Commentary for Berakhot 10:23
דא"ר חמא ברבי חנינא אמר רבי יצחק כל הנותן מטתו בין צפון לדרום הויין ליה בנים זכרים שנאמר (תהלים יז, יד) וצפונך תמלא בטנם ישבעו בנים
Whoever places his bed between North and South will have male children born to him ; as it is said, "And whose belly Thou fillest with Thy treasure, who have sons in plenty" (Ps. xvii. 14).
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
It is well known that, in the Orient, males are more valued than females. Lane, p. 58, mentions that Muhammadan women often dress their boys as girls when taking them into the street so that envious glances be not cast upon them and to avert the Evil Eye. See also Frazer, Folklore of the Old Testament, I. p. 550 and T. A. II. p. 434 n. 89.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Abraham Cohen Footnotes to the English Translation of Masechet Berakhot
The word for "treasure" is safun, and by the change of a vowel, safon, we get the meaning "North." Cf. also fol. 61 b, where it is forbidden to perform the functions of nature towards East or West, to prevent the exposure of the body in the direction of the Temple.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy